You're Not Here to Feel Sorry for Yourself

One of the other cornerstone scriptures of my life is Phil 3:12b.NKJV


Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.


When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, He "lays hold" of us.  He calls us to His work.  As we begin our walk, He brings us along a path that is designed to 'perfect' or mature our 'calling.'  More often than not, this path could be akin to 'boot camp' for a soldier, which in essence we are.  


Ah, boot camp, I remember it well.  I will tell on myself to illustrate my point.  Those of you who have never been to boot camp in any branch of the service will think I am nuts.  Just ask someone who has been and they could probably confirm what I was thinking.  In the Air Force, the basic training was for six weeks. The sergeant was yelling, regulations for everything and pandemonium was the rule of the day.  It was all so mind-boggling that I was in my third week of training when it dawned on me, "Hey, I only have three more weeks of this harassment and then this confusion will be over." I instantly relaxed and just endured with the happy thought of being finished in a short while.


The situations that Jesus leads us through are often that way.  Our mind gets boggled with the frustration of it all.  We tend to zone out that He is the 'finisher' of our faith and that this problem WILL end.


On His way to Jerusalem, Jesus passed through Jericho.  His mind was on the pain and suffering that He knew awaited Him.  However, He was not so preoccupied with His anguish that He couldn't hear the blind man calling after Him as He passed by.  Jesus took time to bless, minister and bring joy to another life.  He was not passing through Jericho to feel sorry for Himself.  He was on a divine appointment to do what God had 'laid hold of Him for.'


There are divine appointments for us today, also.  Let's not get distracted by our 'boot camp' that we miss an opportunity with our loved ones or those we 'pass by' to be the blessing that God has 'laid hold of us' for.

Dwell on Your Joy Not Your Cross

Heb 12:2 tells us that Jesus found joy in facing and enduring the cross.  The joy that sustained Him was not the looking forward to the pain and the shame.  His joy was in the faithfulness and love of His Father.  He lived His life on earth KNOWING He would face a cross some day.  He also lived His life on earth KNOWING that He would rise again.  He KNEW that He would not stay in the grave.  He KNEW that through His death, burial and resurrection, millions of lives would be set free from the ravages of sin, sickness and poverty.  He KNEW that our enemy would be COMPLETELY destroyed because of His shed blood.

Nehemiah taught the impoverished Hebrews that "The joy of the Lord is your strength."  Jerusalem was in shambles.  Their lives were in shambles.  The enemy could come through the broken walls and steal anything they had.  However, Nehemiah encouraged them with that statement as they endeavored to rebuild the wall. With one hand they rebuilt and with one hand they held their sword in case the enemy tried to come in.  As they looked toward the finished product in their minds, they found the strength and fortitude to endure their temporary hardship.

Whatever ravages of the enemy you are facing right now, child of God, is only temporary.  Get the promise of God firmly fixed in your mind and soul.  Don't dwell on the problem.  As you keep your heart fixed on His promises, you'll find His joy beginning to well up in you.  It is the joy of the Father to see you prosper in all you do.  Let His joy become your joy and the valley will get shorter and shorter and shorter.

Wait Til God Picks Up The Pencil

From Heb 12:2-The Author and Finisher of our Faith

For years, the pencil was in the hands of the Egyptians. On day, God took the pencil out of their hands and began writing a new chapter in the lives of the Hebrews.  It began with the Exodus.

For years, the high priest and religious bigots belittled the good that Jesus did. Then the Romans picked up the pencil.  At the crucifixion, God picked up the pencil and changed history.

One day God will get tired of what hurtful people are writing into our lives.  One day, the God of all Comfort will politely take that pencil from their hands.  No longer will He tolerate their brashness, hatred, envy and cutting remarks.  He will write our history before their very eyes.  The Psalmist David said it like this in the 23rd Psalm.  Even tho I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me.  Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. (Here we go) Thou preparest a table before me------IN THE PRESENCE OF MINE ENEMIES---

Didn't realize that was there, did you?

The Author and Finisher of Your Faith

Hebrews 12:2 tells us to keep our eyes on Jesus and not our circumstances.  It describes Him as the Author and the Finisher of our faith.

Number one:  If He is the author of our faith, then He allowed the junk that we are going through right now because He is 'writing' something new into our faith.

He will BEGIN this chapter and then hand the pen over to someone else to write into our lives, just like God allowed the high priests and Pilate to write into Jesus' life.

Number two:  As the finisher of our faith, there WILL come a day when He takes the pen out of our oppressors hands and writes the end of the chapter.  According to Jer. 29:11, God is planning on doing something good for me.  Therefore, I need to rejoice in everything because my challenged faith is anxiously awaiting the end of the chapter.

This has finally dawned on me while writing my books.  Due to time constraints, I sometimes have to leave a chapter before it is finished.  If you read only what was in the chapter at that point, it would be confusing to you.  I have in my mind how I want to finish the chapter as well as how I want to finish the book.  I now understand that the obnoxious that I am going through is not the end of the chapter and is certainly not the end of the book until Jer. 29:11 happens.

My faith looks to the Author until He takes the pen and Finishes what He started.  And that is to do me good.  Live strong today, saints.